Concrete slats: Brussels will allow 3mm slot tolerance

Pig finishers with concrete slats with a slot width of more than 18mm, but not more than 21mm, will not need to replace them after all.

Friday 11 May 2012 (5 years 9 months 11 days ago)

Pig finishers with concrete slats with a slot width of more than 18mm, but not more than 21mm, will not need to replace them after all.

With the help of data collected from NPA members in a website survey, NPA and BPEX explained to Defra that the 18mm slot rule for concrete slats would cost British pig producers well over £17m, as the prevailing slot width is 19-20mm (3/4in). The situation is the same over much of the continent, indicating a total cost of replacing concrete slats for the sake of two or three millimetres, of well over £50m.

Brussels has told Defra that the relevant European Standard, which allows for a 3mm tolerance, "should be taken into account when checking compliance".